Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives – #PotLuck – #Dogsitting – Chapter Two : J.J. The Dalmatian by Debbie the DogLady

Welcome to the series of Posts from Your Archives, where bloggers put their trust in me. In this series, I dive into a blogger’s archives and select four posts to share here to my audience.

This is the second post of Debbie the DogLady who lives in Toronto, Canada and posts about travel, music, life and of course dogs. I have chosen four of her dog sitting adventures to share with you and in this post we meet J.J. The Dalmatian who sounds quite the character.

Prologue…

Dogs have always been part of my life; a love passed down from generation to generation. Protracted unemployment in the early 90s required some creativity. Thus, my pet care business was born. This is a continuing series.
(Click HERE for more chapters)

J.J. the Dalmatian came into my life for a brief couple of years.
His antics earned him the nickname “Brat Prince” and a special place in my heart.

J.J.’s “Dad”, Bob, was a very busy man, juggling a public relations firm with a young family and a cat. Whatever made him decide to add a Dalmatian into the mix? He obviously had little understanding of the breed and opted to keep J.J. confined to a crate for much of the day, (because he tormented the cat). You just DON’T put a Dalmatian in a cage and expect life to be hunky dory once he’s let loose! No surprise that J.J. would run amok.

These are intelligent, high energy dogs who need an outlet. I kept my disapproval to myself and accepted J.J. as a houseguest with much trepidation. Hopefully, my own Dalmatian, Tasha, would keep him in line. Before he arrived, shoes and other “chewables” were hidden or put out of reach, just in case.

All went well the first week. There was a daily “playgroup” for dogs at the neighbouring schoolyard and J.J. got plenty of exercise, chasing around with the others.

We loved having two Dalmatians together and it was quite a sight. Tasha at one end of the couch and J.J. at the other, performing their nightly, synchronized cleaning ritual. (This breed is very cat-like.)

Similar to children, dogs are often on their best behaviour in a new environment, until they become more relaxed. This is what happened with J.J., the second week. We had also become a little complacent, assuming he was cured of his destructive bent.

I hurried out of the house one day, leaving a pair of jeans on the bedroom chair. Found them later, on the floor, with the waistband chewed off. J.J. had obviously eaten it! Luckily, this didn’t cause him any gastric upset, but, he was pooping denim for the next few days. We had a couple of similar incidents with forgotten shoes, but it was impossible to stay angry. J.J. was such an adorable clown!

Another time, we had several more canine guests in residence. They were eating dinner when J.J decided he wanted a taste of someone else’s. The dog wouldn’t oblige, so J.J. lifted his leg and peed in the water bowl! We just HOWLED with laughter, all the while trying to scold him. What a statement!

Bob had noticed that when J.J. came home from his vacations, he was much calmer. This prompted him to join the playgroup, two or three times a week. One day, J.J. just bolted! He ran to our house, (halfway down the block), up the front steps and sat there, waiting. Bob made light of it, joking that J.J. wanted another holiday. This continued to happen every time from then on and Bob soon stopped coming. Obviously, J.J. wasn’t so happy at home and wanted to stay with me! Sadly, I never heard from them again.

A few months later, I drove by Bob’s house and there was a “For Sale” sign on the lawn. He had mentioned wanting to sell, in passing, and also admitted that J.J. needed a more suitable home. My hope is that he found one.

©Debbie the Dog Lady 2012

About Debbie

Hello from Toronto!

Thanks for visiting my little corner of the internet. Let me entertain you with memoirs, photos, travelogues, creative writing pieces, music galore and so much more.

I was born in Germany, now living in Canada. My mother was German and my father, Canadian of German descent. They met in 1953, during his first posting to her homeland, following a tour of duty in Korea. This makes me an “Army Brat”.

I speak English, German, some French, a little Italian and a smattering of Spanish. I love music, travel and of course dogs.

Connect to Debbie

Blog: https://thedogladysden.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DebbieDoglady
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Debbie.D.Writer.Photographer/

My thanks to Debbie for permitting me to share posts from her archives and I hope you will head over to explore them further.. Thanks Sally.